Explaining his position on Eyewitness News, Professor Bokpin explained that, though the 2018 budget may appear promising than the previous one, it will still take some time for Ghanaians to fully realize government’s projections captured in there.

“I am quite positive and hopeful that the budget will deliver to a large extent the expectations that is expected of it, but of course we have to be moderate. The reason why I am saying we have to be moderate is that the kind of progress we are asking for will take a while. It will take painful adjustments and some patience and sacrifice for all of us to get there.”

The 2018 budget, which is the second to be read by the Akufo-Addo government, is expected to focus largely on job creation.

The President last week hinted of a reduction in the cost of electricity to be captured in the budget.

Giving some expectations of the 2018 budget, Prof. Bokpin further projected that, government is most likely to focus on policies that will ultimately grow the economy.

“My understanding is that, government will go for growth. They will roll out policies that will ease the restrictions and the growth drivers of the economy, and government has that time, and again the most effective way to contain your debt is to grow your economy…My understanding of the 2018 budget is that it will be much more realistic than the 2017.”

How 2017 budget fared

Giving details on how the 2017 budget had fared so far, Prof. Bokpin described as overambitious, fiscal targets set by the government in the previous budget.

He pointed out that government’s ambitious plan on revenue generation caused some discrepancies in terms of revenue performance.

“They were overly ambitious so if you look at the difference between that and the fiscal outlook for 2016, you could see the progress, except that government was overly ambitious as to how much it can generate by way of tax revenue and therefore you could see the variance in terms of the performance”

He was however quick to add that, government nonetheless “exhibited considerable discipline on the revenue side.”

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By: Marian Ansah/citifmonlone.com/Ghana
Follow @EfeAnsah

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According to him, the government still has an option of making amends for the shortfalls in the process.

[contextly_sidebar id=”OUITIm9g2bNOF2hbkU8IsIzCClFg52Ov”]“Given the fact that government had given a certain period within which it will do the whole bond issue, one will be very careful to say it is a total failure because there is an option for them to go to the market to determine the market conditions. But given the indications that we received earlier, and government’s own confidence that the bond will be more successful and what we have, then it fell short of our expectations and that is a fact,” he said in an interview on Eyewitness News on Thursday.

Prof. Bokpin also said he believes it would have been more appropriate for the government to issue the bond as a sovereign bond rather than a corporate bond.

“My considered view is that given this circumstance, it would have been more preferable for government to go for a sovereign bond rather than a corporate bond. What we are trying to do is that, we want to keep our debt to GDP ratio within the target for the year and for next year, but at the end of the day, this special purpose vehicle is fully backed by government…. One school of thought can easily classify this energy bond typically as a public debt even though Ghana government will say it is not… In terms of strategy, we will not say the government was totally wrong,” he added.

Government issued a ten year and seven year bond with the aim of getting GHc6 billion to offset the legacy debts of the energy sector, which was about GHc10 billion.

But in all, a total of GHc4.69 billion was realized even after a seven day extension period.

The 7-year component raked in 2.4 billion cedis as targeted, at an interest rate of 19 percent.

However, the 10 year bond failed to hit the 3.6 billion cedis mark.

Minority chide gov’t over energy bond

The Minority at a press conference on Wednesday accused the government of causing financial loss to the state, claiming that administrative processes cost the country ghc177 million.

According to them, the below GHc 6 billion yield was a solid basis for the Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, to be hauled before the House to explain why investment advice from places such as the IMF among others was ignored.

They also accused government of breaching the constitution because they did not seek the approval of Parliament before issuing the bond.

But a Deputy Minister for Finance, Kwaku Kwarteng, has explained that, the bond struggled because of the low-interest rate of 19%, saying the investors wanted more, but the government was not willing to go beyond 20%.

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By: Jonas Nyabor/citfimonline.com/Ghana

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He headed the opener in a first half completely dominated by the hosts.

The Scots rode their luck in the first half but lifted their game after the break and levelled through Ikechi Anya.

But poor defending allowed Muller to fire in from close range to seal a narrow win, with Charlie Mulgrew sent off in stoppage time for the visitors.

The result is no disgrace and nor was the Scots’ performance after half-time, when they seemed to find a belief that they could hurt their illustrious opponents.

And so they did when Sunderland’s Steven Fletcher came off the bench and released winger Anya with a wonderful pass.

The Watford player, racing from the halfway line, still had plenty to do but as he approached Manuel Neuer’s goal he showed terrific composure to slide the ball into the net.

That cancelled out Muller’s early opener, which arrived despite two earlier warnings.

The German forward had twice got his head to dangerous crosses – the first a bad miss, the second cleared to safety – before the third landed in David Marshall’s net.

Anya – not for the first time – afforded midfielder Sebastian Rudy far too much time and space on the German right and his measured cross found Muller climbing between Alan Hutton and Russell Martin to loop a header over the keeper.

Muller found a gap in the Scotland defence to head the opener

If the Scots defended that one poorly, the loss of the second was calamitous. A corner from the right was not cleared and the ball fell kindly to Muller who gleefully popped the ball past the Scotland number one after 18 minutes.

Marshall had kept his side in the game with a string of terrific saves, withMarco Reus a particular goal threat.

Germany’s front four – Reus, Muller, Andre Schurrle and Mario Gotze – were irresistible at times, combining seemingly effortlessly and leaving the Scots defenders bamboozled by their movement.

Nonetheless, there were occasional glimpses of Neuer’s goal for the visitors, Barry Bannan seeing an early shot deflected just wide and Anya passing up two good opportunities, one when Neuer was yards out of his penalty area but the winger took a heavy touch and the chance was gone.

Scotland might have had an equaliser in the opening moments of the second period at the end of a superb, penetrating run down the right by Alan Hutton.

He picked out Steven Naismith, who drifted away from two defenders before unleashing a low shot past Neuer but agonisingly a matter of inches wide of the post.

Marshall was twice made to work by Gotze either side of Muller’s second and there could have been a hat-trick for Muller himself, only for the post to deny him just after Mulgrew was red carded for a second bookable offence – kicking the ball away.

And though the outcome was a fair one on the balance of play, Scotland did cause numerous problems for a shaky German defence and can take confidence from the way they matched the World Cup winners after the interval.

The introduction of Steven Fletcher gave Scotland more attacking impetus

Anya showed pace and composure to level

Scotland players temporarily dreamed of a famous result

Mulgrew will miss Scotland’s next match after receving two bookings

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Source: BBC Sport

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Ulli and Corinne Ernst have converted some of their land in Utting, Bavaria to toast Joachim Low and his squad following their triumph in Brazil this summer.

The maze – which depicts a player performing an overhead kick in front of the Brazilian flag and includes the flags for the top three teams in the tournament of Germany, Argentina and the Netherlands – is 18,000 square metres in size.

The Ernsts and their team of helpers began sowing the field in April, using hemp, corn, rapeseed, sunflowers and common mallow.

Visitors will be able to revel in getting lost in the labyrinth until late September.

Germany stormed to victory this summer, beating Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the final to win their first World Cup in 24 years and become the first European team to lift the trophy on South American soil.

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Source: Mirror

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The 30-year-old played a key role in Germany’s world title this summer, making seven appearances to help his side to their first major trophy since Euro 1996 at the expense of Argentina.

Lahm will not play a role in Germany’s hunt for more silverware, however, having told head coach Joachim Low that he’s no longer available for the national team.

“I told Jogi Low about my decision to retire from international football on Monday,” Lahm told Sport Bild.

“I’d been thinking about it over the course of last season. I am delighted that things all came together with this World Cup win.

“I gave DFB president Wolfgang Niersbach a call this morning and thanked him and everybody else at the DFB for the last few years.”

Lahm, who captained Germany since permanently replacing Michael Ballack in 2011, made his official Germany debut in the 2-1 win over Croatia in February 2004 and had since developed into one of Germany’s undisputed star players.

The right-back has made 113 appearances for the freshly crowned world champions and sits fourth in the all-time ranking behind Lothar Matthaus (150 caps), Miroslav Klose (137) and Lulas Podolski (116).

Lahm featured at the European Championships of 2004, 2008 and 2012, as well as at the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

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Source: Goal.com

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Kramer’s head collided with Argentina defender Ezequiel Garay’s shoulder in the 19th minute of Sunday’s showpiece, which Joachim Low’s men won 1-0 after extra-time, but was allowed to play on.

However, he was substituted in the 32nd minute as the severity of his problem became apparent and it was later revealed that the Borussia Monchengladbach had suffered from concussion, leading to criticism of Fifa’s protocol over such injuries.

And the game’s referee Rizzoli has now disclosed the nature of a bizarre conversation that led to Kramer to being replaced by Andre Schurrle.

He told La Gazzetta dello Sport: “Shortly after the blow suffered by Garay, Kramer came to me and asked: ‘Ref, is this the final?’

“I thought he was joking, he repeated the question and said: ‘I need to know if this is really the final.’

“At my ‘yes’, amazed, he concluded: ‘Thanks, it was important to know’. I advised Bastian Schweinsteiger and they replaced Kramer.”

The player who came on for Kramer, Schurrle, eventually went on to grab the assist for Mario Gotze’s winner late in the game which crowned Germany as world champions for the first time since 1990.

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Source: Goal.com

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As the conflict in the Middle East rages following a failed ceasefire, Ozil is set to give the £237,000 bonus he received for helping Germany win the final, and the £118,000 he received for Germany’s semi-final win, to the occupied territory. He is however yet to confirm the actual beneficiaries of his largesse.

Ozil is of Turkish descent and a practising Muslim who recites the Quran before games. He controversially opted not to fast during the tournament, which fell in the holy month of Ramadan in which Muslims fast from dawn until sunset.

According to the Middle East Monitor, Ozil caused controversy when he declined to shake a Fifa official’s hand because of his support for Israel.

Arsenal’s club-record signing (£42.5 million) has quickly settled to life in England, winning the FA Cup with the Gunners before playing an integral role in Germany’s march to victory in Brazil.

A nine-day outbreak of conflict between Israel and militant group Hamas has seen over 1,000 rockets fired into Israel and over 1,300 airstrikes on the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian officials have said that 207 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s Operation Protective Edge while one Israeli has died in southern Israel after being hit by a mortar.

The Gaza Strip is a narrow territory occupied by Israel currently under a land, sea and air blockade. According to the United Nations and aid agencies, humanitarian conditions have continued to deteriorate rapidly because of the blockade.

In addition to Ozil’s act of generosity, other Muslim representatives at the World Cup have also sent their prize money to the occupied coastal enclave.

After reaching the second round of the tournament, Algeria donated their £5.25m prize money to the people of Gaza.

Algeria striker Islam Slimani announced that the entire squad would donate the money to the territory because “they need it more than us”, according to a report in the Daily Mail.

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Source: International Business Times

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Six of their World Cup-winning squad played in the side which beat England 4-0 in the 2009 European Championship Under-21s final.

James Milner was the only England player from that game to play at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

The Germans beat Argentina 1-0 in Sunday’s final, while England went out of the competition in the group stages.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer, defenders Mats Hummels, Benedikt Howedes and Jerome Boateng and midfielders Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil started against England in the youth final.

Only the injured Khedira did not start against Argentina.

Since that final in Malmo five years ago, Ozil won La Liga with Real Madrid before making a £42.4m move to Arsenal last September.

His title-winning team-mate at Real was Khedira, who also helped the Spanish giants to the 2013-14 Champions League title.

Neuer, 28, and Boateng both play for Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich, while Hummels is a two-times Bundesliga winner with Borussia Dortmund. Howedes, 26, plays for Schalke.

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BBC Sport

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Low also revealed he told Gotze to show the world he was better than Lionel Messi minutes before the substitute came on to score the game’s only goal.

It gave Germany their fourth success in the tournament and first for 24 years.

Gotze, 22, said: “It is an unbelievable feeling. You score that goal and you don’t really know what’s happening.”

Gotze, who began the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Germany’s starting line-up, came on as an 88th-minute substitute for Miroslav Klose in Sunday’s final.

With seven minutes of extra time remaining, the Bayern Munich midfielder volleyed home with his left foot after controlling Andre Schurrle’s left-wing cross on his chest.

“He is the wonder who can play in numerous positions, he is the decider who can come on and make a difference,” said Low. “That is what he did.”

Gotze, who joined Bayern in a £31.5m deal from Borussia Dortmund last summer, added: “It’s indescribable. The dream has become a reality. It is absolutely sensational.”

Despite being on the losing side in the final, Messi was named as the tournament’s best player.

Coach Alejandro Sabella said the award was “very deserved”, adding: “He played a great World Cup to get us where he did.”

Germany counterpart Low, meanwhile, said victory in Brazil was the result of a 10-year project.

Germany were knocked out at the group stage of Euro 2004 without winning a game but have since reached three semi-finals and two finals at five major championships.

Before Sunday they had not won a tournament since tasting success in the 1996 European Championships in England.

“We’ve made constant progress and believed in the project,” said the 54-year-old Low, who became coach in 2006 after stepping up from his role as assistant to Jurgen Klinsmann. “If any group deserves it, it’s this team.”

Manuel Neuer, who won the Golden Glove award for the best goalkeeper in the tournament, hailed an “unbelievable” moment as the national side lifted the trophy.

“The team has done superbly, not only the players, but also the team behind the team,” he said.

Captain Philipp Lahm added: “Whether we have the best individual players or whatever does not matter, you have to have the best team. At the end, you stand there as world champions – an unbelievable feeling.”

Chelsea forward Schurrle added: “This is the best moment of my life. I had to cry because I was so overcome. I couldn’t stop it. It was always a dream to be a world champion.”

Centre-back Mats Hummels admitted the players were beginning to think about a penalty shootout before Gotze’s goal.

“I am still completely trapped in another world, physically too exhausted to be able to rejoice euphorically, but that will come,” he said.

“You can only be world champions when you act as a team. We wanted to make that clear to everyone the whole time.”

A record 34.65m Germans watched the World Cup final, according to viewing figures released on Monday.

The match, broadcast on ARD public television, beat the previous record of 32.57m who had watched the 7-1 semi-final win over Brazil.

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Source: BBC Sport

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